Navigating the Medicare enrollment process and all that it entails can be tricky. Read about Leslie’s adventure and take note of her helpful tips. I’m going to share a little secret. Confidentially, between us girls, I just signed up for Medicare. (shudder, gasp, you don’t look 65!) Piece of cake, right? The truth…. it was straightforward because I leveraged the team at Chapter. Chapter is an independent Medicare Advisor endorsed by the NCOA (National Council on Aging). My advisor was a young man named Dilraj. Dilraj was incredibly well informed and assisted me with
Most importantly, he followed up with me so that I completed the process well within my enrollment window. My coverage started without a hitch. When was the last time someone followed up with you?! Signing up within the enrollment window is very important! Here is a handy flowchart that details the process. I have been a financial advisor for 25+ years, have an RMA certification (retirement management advisor), attended multiple Medicare seminars and assisted my husband with going through the process two years ago. I still chose to use Chapter rather than one of the myriad of insurance salespeople that somehow knew I was Medicare eligible and were relentless in their solicitations. Why? Because Medicare is complicated, and I did not want to take a chance on making a mistake (Same reason I do not change the oil in my car). So, what’s the big deal? Why do I need to know this stuff? Medicare comes with choices, deadlines and penalties plus premiums, copays and deductibles. Hence it is important to get it right. Some things you need to know are
Medicare Costs There are several websites that include specific information with regard to deductibles, copays, premiums. Here are a few of them
Now that my husband and I are enrolled in Medicare (trying hard to stay healthy!) we estimate a 30% savings in our premiums, more than a 90% savings in our deductibles as well as on our prescriptions. When calculating our new costs and deducting the savings on the premiums, I even added back the supplemental insurance premiums, prescription, dental and vision premiums. We still come out way ahead. Medicare covers about 55-60 million American consumers; 96% of our elderly are covered by Medicare. It is a very important program for U.S. citizens. The new Medicare provision allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies is a big step forward as is the cap on prescription expense. Here are a couple of interesting websites that detail the impact of prescription drug spending on Medicare.
Please feel free to forward questions to Leslie@Mosaicfi.com
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